Department of Labor to Make it Easier for Bigots to Defend Themselves Against LGBT Discrimination

The Department of Labor is hoping to make it easier for federal contractors to use their religious beliefs to get out of LGBT discrimination charges.

According to ThinkProgress:

On August 10, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued an enforcement directive that says investigators should consider recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and recent executive orders relating to issues of religious freedom. The directive wouldn’t directly have an effect on the 2014 executive order that says government contractors can’t discriminate against employees or applicants in the LGBTQ community, according to Bloomberg. It does mean, however, that auditors in this office can, under certain circumstances, allow for religious exemptions in situations relating to discrimination against the LGBTQ community.

The directive said: “Recent court decisions have addressed the broad freedoms and anti-discrimination protections that must be afforded religion-exercising organizations and individuals under the United States Constitution and federal law. … Recent Executive Orders have similarly reminded the federal government of its duty to protect religious exercise-and not to impede it.”